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At least 100 people have been killed and scores more injured in fierce dust storms that hit the northern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.The storms on Wednesday disrupted electricity, uprooted trees, destroyed houses and killed livestock.Many of the dead were sleeping when their houses collapsed after being struck by intense bursts of lightning.Dust storms are common in this part of India during summer but loss of life on this scale is unusual.At least 65 people died in Uttar Pradesh, more than half of them of them in Agra district which is home to the Taj Mahal monument. Officials say the death toll could increase. BBC

The dust storms were accompanied by heavy rain and hail in places, causing houses to collapse, toppling trees and leaving more than 160 injured, officials said on Thursday, euronews reported.

New Dehli and the northern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan were the worst affected. The Times of India reported on Friday that at least 127 people had died, the vast majority in those two states.

The situation was made worse by the fact that the storm was so unexpected, and caught people and rescue services by surprise.

Although the monsoon season is still more than six weeks away, dust storms are said to be an annual phenomenon in the region. However, the intensity of this recent storm was unexpected. TASNIM

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The UN has imposed a 2013 deadline for the submission of scientific claims to the Arctic seabed. It is the precursor to a resource boom which would see Canada, the US, Russia, Norway and Greenland all attempt to exploit the region's resources.